Steve Claridge

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Steve Claridge
Personal information
Full name Stephen Edward Claridge
Date of birth (1966-04-10) 10 April 1966 (age 58)
Place of birth Portsmouth, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Position(s)
Striker
Team information
Current team
 Fleetlands (manager)
Youth career
Portsmouth
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1984 Fareham Town 13 (2)
1984–1985 AFC Bournemouth 7 (1)
1985–1988 Weymouth 110 (28)
1988 Crystal Palace 0 (0)
1988–1990 Aldershot 62 (19)
1990–1992 Cambridge United 79 (28)
1992 Luton Town 16 (2)
1992–1994 Cambridge United 53 (18)
1994–1996 Birmingham City 88 (35)
1996–1998 Leicester City 63 (17)
1998 → Portsmouth (loan) 10 (2)
1998 Wolverhampton Wanderers 5 (0)
1998–2001 Portsmouth 104 (34)
2001 → Millwall (loan) 6 (3)
2001–2003 Millwall 85 (26)
2003–2004 Weymouth 47 (24)
2004 Brighton & Hove Albion 5 (0)
2004–2005 Brentford 4 (0)
2005 → Wycombe Wanderers (loan) 4 (0)
2005 Wycombe Wanderers 15 (4)
2005 Millwall 0 (0)
2005 Gillingham 1 (0)
2005–2006 Bradford City 26 (5)
2006 → Walsall (loan) 7 (1)
2006–2007 AFC Bournemouth 1 (0)
2007 Worthing 1 (0)
2007 Harrow Borough 4 (2)
2009 Weymouth 1 (1)
2011–2012 Gosport Borough 11 (4)
2017 Salisbury 1 (0)
Total 829 (256)
Managerial career
2000–2001 Portsmouth
2003–2004 Weymouth
2005 Millwall
2015–2022[2] Salisbury
2023– Fleetlands
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Stephen Edward Claridge (born 10 April 1966) is an English

pundit, coach and former professional player who is currently the manager of Fleetlands. He was a pundit for BBC Sport football shows including Football Focus and The Football League Show, until 2014 when he became both manager and a director at newly formed Salisbury.[3]

Claridge's career was known for its longevity and diversity. Born in

semi-professional
football matches.

After formally retiring from football in 2007, Claridge moved into media work for the BBC. His experience of the Football League has been used to position him as an expert at that level, though he works across a variety of different football programmes on the BBC. After retirement he occasionally played semi-professional football for clubs in south England, most recently in 2017 for Salisbury.

Early years

Claridge was born in

adopted child.[4]

Claridge initially played for Fareham Town in the Southern League. He got into Football League side AFC Bournemouth, though Claridge again stepped down the leagues after just seven games for Bournemouth to sign for Weymouth.[citation needed]

In October 1988 Claridge moved to Crystal Palace for a brief period before opting to join Fourth Division team Aldershot for the 1988–89 season. He spent two years with the club before signing with Cambridge United for £75,000. He moved with Cambridge up into the Second Division and stayed with the club for most of the next four years. His tempestuous relationship with manager John Beck, which was exacerbated by Claridge's gambling problems,[5] eventually led to his being sold to Luton Town for only £120,000 in March 1992. With Luton in financial difficulties however he was sold back to Cambridge, for a club record £195,000 just five months later (Beck having left the club by this time).[5]

In January 1994 Claridge moved to

1997 League Cup final replay. In 1997 his autobiography Tales From The Boot Camps, co-written with Ian Ridley, was first published.[citation needed
]

Moves into management

In 1998 Claridge joined hometown club

Football Conference. Following Ian Ridley's resignation as chairman, Claridge also left to return to league football.[citation needed
]

Later playing and management career

In his later playing career, chronologically, Claridge played for

Championship that season.[citation needed
]

At the start of the 2006–07 season Claridge was without a club, having made 999 career appearances.[9] Eventually, in December 2006, he re-signed for Bournemouth for a month on a pay-as-you-play basis.[10] His 1,000th first-team match was a 4–0 defeat to Port Vale on 9 December, at the age of 40.[11]

He played a one-off match for

Isthmian League Premier Division club Worthing on 16 January 2007, a 1–1 draw with AFC Wimbledon.[12] Two weeks later, Claridge joined divisional rivals Harrow Borough, for whom he scored on debut in a 4–4 draw with Margate.[13]

In September 2009, Claridge came out of retirement to play unpaid for his former club, the

Conference South side Weymouth, who were in severe financial difficulties.[14][15]

Claridge came out of retirement once more in October 2011 when he signed for

extra time, and completed a 3–1 win in the 98th minute to help Gosport return to the Premier Division after a 22-year absence.[19] Immediately after the game he claimed it was "more than likely [his] last game",[20] but later admitted he was considering playing for a further season following Gosport's promotion.[21]

The 51-year-old Claridge made up the numbers for

pre-season friendly against Portsmouth in July 2017; Salisbury lost 3–0.[22] On 15 August, he named himself as one of only four substitutes and came on for what the Salisbury Journal dubbed "a short cameo" in a Southern League Division One South & West match against Paulton Rovers that ended as a 2–2 draw.[23] He started Salisbury's next match, a 3–2 FA Cup victory over Fareham Town, substituting himself off after 71 minutes because of broken bones that decided his retirement from playing.[24][25][26]

In July 2023, Claridge was appointed manager of Wessex Football League Division One club Fleetlands having been a long-time friend of the chairman.[27]

Media

During Claridge's time at Weymouth, he and Ian Ridley, who was club

chairman at the time, were two of the subjects of a BBC documentary called Football Stories; Claridge left Weymouth to work in the media, initially for BBC Radio 5 Live. He works for the BBC mainly on The Football League Show, and stated his opposition to the use of goal-line technology.[citation needed] He also has contributed scouting reports to The Guardian.[28]

Driving conviction

In June 2008, Claridge was convicted of dangerous driving and sentenced to six months' imprisonment, suspended for two years, after speeding at 100 mph (160 km/h) in "treacherous" conditions. He already had nine points on his driving licence.[29]

Honours

Birmingham City

Leicester City

Millwall

  • Football League Second Division: 2000–01

Individual

Managerial stats

Team From To Record
G W D L Win%
Portsmouth 12 October 2000 25 February 2001 23 5 10 8 021.74
Weymouth 1 July 2003 20 October 2004 55 26 17 12 047.27
Millwall 21 June 2005 27 July 2005 0 0 0 0 !—
Salisbury[34] April 2015 13 October 2022[35] 204 133 24 47 065.20

References

  1. OCLC 655652451
    .
  2. ^ "Salisbury sack long-serving manager Claridge". BBC Sport.
  3. ^ Holt, Joel (4 December 2014). "Steve Claridge and group of supporters buy the assets of Salisbury City FC". Salisbury Journal. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Ask Steve Claridge". BBC Sport. 21 October 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Former player news". Cambridge United F.C. Archived from the original on 3 July 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  6. ^ a b Ridley, Ian (11 February 1996). "Still crazy after all these years". Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  7. ^ James, Stuart (27 July 2005). "Claridge sacked". Evening Standard. London. p. A60 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Claridge cited as 'relegation risk'". The Independent. London. 29 July 2005. p. 74 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Bevan, Chris (8 August 2006). "Claridge on lookout for new club". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 May 2002.
  10. ^ "Claridge ties up Cherries switch". BBC Sport. 8 December 2006. Retrieved 28 May 2002.
  11. ^ "Bournemouth 0–4 Port Vale". BBC Sport. 9 December 2006. Retrieved 28 May 2002.
  12. ^ Donovan, Mike (17 January 2007). "Football: It's hello and goodbye for Rebel Claridge". The Argus. Brighton. Retrieved 28 May 2002.
  13. ^ Grigor, Simon (3 February 2007). "Match details: Harrow 4–4 Margate". Harrow Borough F.C. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012.
  14. ^ Summers, Adam (3 September 2009). "Claridge is back". Dorset Echo. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  15. ^ "Claridge to revive playing career". BBC Sport. 3 September 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  16. ^ "BBC football pundit Steve Claridge signs for Gosport Borough". BBC Sport. 21 October 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  17. ^ "Match report: FA Trophy preliminary round". Gosport Borough F.C. 22 October 2011. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012.
  18. ^ "Match report: Evo-Stik Southern League Division One South & West". Gosport Borough F.C. 29 October 2011. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012.
  19. ^ "Never write off The Boro'". Gosport Borough F.C. 7 May 2012. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013.
  20. ^ Cross, Jordan (8 May 2012). "Great way to go as Claridge fires Boro to play-off joy". The News. Portsmouth. Archived from the original on 13 May 2012.
  21. ^ "BBC football pundit Steve Claridge to retire... definitely, maybe". BBC Sport. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  22. ^ "Steve Claridge: Salisbury boss plays against Portsmouth aged 51". BBC Sport. 2 July 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  23. ^ "Whites could only muster a draw against an organised Paulton Rovers side". Salisbury Journal. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  24. ^ "Match Details - Salisbury 3-2 Fareham Town - FAC - 19th August 2017". aylesburyunitedfc.co.uk. Aylesbury United FC/Luke Buckingham-Brown. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  25. ^ "Whites beat Fareham Town to secure place in FA Cup first qualfying round". Salisbury Journal. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  26. ^ Johnston, Neil (9 October 2018). "How Salisbury FC are offering a city relief from poisoning crisis". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  27. ^ "STEVE CLARIDGE HAS JOINED THE CLUB". www.fleetlandsfc.co.uk. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  28. ^ Claridge, Steve (4 March 2008). "Ryan Shawcross, Stoke City". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  29. ^ "Driving ban for 100mph footballer". BBC News. 10 June 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  30. ^ Moore, Glenn (16 April 1997). "Claridge's five-star silver service". The Independent. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  31. ISBN 978-1-85291-571-1
    .
  32. ^ "Portsmouth Player of the Year 1968-2021". My Football Facts. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  33. ^ "Steve Claridge". www.millwall-history.org.uk. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  34. ^ Fixtures / Results - Salisbury FC Salisbury FC, Retrieved 24 April 2018
  35. ^ "Salisbury sack long-serving manager Claridge". BBC Sport.

External links

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